Obama Legitimizes Iran's War Against Israel

(WJD) The Obama presidency has evolved. At first, critics were worried that his past association with anti-Semites would color his views of Israel. Then they were alarmed that he distanced himself from the Jewish state in favor of the Arab states. Then, with the Iran deal, all alarms were blaring that Obama was acting explicitly contrary to Israeli interests.

Now, says Lee Smith at the Weekly Standard, not only is Obama weakening Israel, he is actively strengthening its enemies and legitimizing their goals. All of this became apparent when the White House -- not Russia -- invited Iran to the Vienna talks over Syria's future.

It’s worth noting that while Tehran has three seats at the table in Vienna (the governments it controls in Lebanon and Iraq as well as its own), Israel wasn’t invited, even though the Syrian war touches directly on Jerusalem’s national security. A soon-to-be-nuclear state putting missiles on Israel’s borders is a serious matter, but that’s not how the White House sees it—or Russia for that matter. Israel’s absence from Vienna underscores a key fact that should give pause to those who believe Russia’s presence in Syria isn’t that big a problem, that Israel can do business with Putin, that Russia’s interests are not the same as Iran’s and therefore it’s only a matter of time before the two powers fall out. That’s delusional. Vienna is evidence that Russia and Iran’s interests are in alignment—Assad stays.

But it’s not hard to see why American allies are fooling themselves, for the reality is much harder to believe. The Obama administration has legitimized Iran’s supply line to Hezbollah. By bringing Iran to Vienna, the White House has legitimized the Islamic Republic’s war against Israel.

It's much worse than we ever imagined.